By Richard Horsman
Organisers of the eleventh Kirkstall Art Trail which takes place this coming weekend (18-19 July) are promising their event will be ‘bigger and better than ever’.
Around 110 artists will be showing off their work in venues ranging from Kirkstall Abbey and the Hollybush Conservation Centre to the tiny basements of red brick houses which make the surrounding community so distinctive.
Innovations this year include buskers playing live music at key locations and a much expanded fashion show in the Abbey ruins on the Saturday afternoon.
For the first time there’s also a wheelchair friendly route fully mapped out out, with detailed accessibility information available from the bigger venues.
The whole event is free for visitors and, unusually, for artists.
Similar events often charge participants commission or venue fees – Kirkstall doesn’t, but organisers say if they’re going to flourish and grow in the future they need art lovers to donate what they can via QR codes posted around the route.
Val Smithson is an artist and one of the committee putting the event together.
She told the Dispatch’s Richard Horsman it’s a lot of work – but a real labour of love:
More details on Kirkstall Art Trail can be found here.
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